我应该如何为现有的付费Android应用添加年度订阅？

Question

I have had a successful app on Google Play for several years. There are two versions of it: a limited free version and a fully featured paid version. This model has worked well for me, but now I am starting to worry about the long term picture - where will I get revenue from once most people who want the app have already bought it ?

I want to keep the free version the same as it is, and I would still like to sell the paid version for an upfront fee. But for the paid version, I would also like to charge a renewal fee once a year, starting one year after the user initially buys and installs it.

How would it be best to do this using the Google in-app subscription mechanism ? Also, how would I make the transition without upsetting current paid users ?

Answer 1

This model has worked well for me, but now I am starting to worry about the long term picture - where will I get revenue from once most people who want the app have already bought it ?

I'm thinking about this too. What I came up with is to add optional donations / subscriptions that people can choose to buy, in either the free or paid versions. Buying the subscription in the free version would essentially unlock the features for the duration of the subscription, as a "trial" period.

I want to keep the free version the same as it is, and I would still like to sell the paid version for an upfront fee. But for the paid version, I would also like to charge a renewal fee once a year, starting one year after the user initially buys and installs it.

How would it be best to do this using the Google in-app subscription mechanism ?

You can't really do this with in-app-billing (up-front cost + delayed billing). The best alternative would be to add the ability to buy the subscription within the free version that would then unlock the paid features. You would then have to discontinue (ie unpublish) the paid version so people couldn't keep buying it.

Also, how would I make the transition without upsetting current paid users ?

I would say don't even try this. If you start charging an annual fee to people who paid the upfront cost, they are going to be pissed .

I would "grandfather" in people who already bought the app. Convert the paid app into a "key" that does nothing but tell people to get the free version, which you continue to maintain / update. Then you can can check in the free version if the paid app exists and unlock paid features.

This way old users who supported you before keep the features they paid for, and only new users will have to pay the annual fee.

If you really do want to charge existing users, then the other option would be to put a notice / disclaimer in the paid version before unpublishing it that it's essentially discontinued and if they want new features / updates they have to get the free one with billing. Then existing users can just keep what they paid for and have the option to subscribe for ongoing features / updates.

This still feels crappy as users are accustomed to paying once for lifetime updates, but it's probably the best option given how Google Play sales / billing works.

Hope that helps.